And this is for _alicesprings who requested a post 513 reunion for Brian and Justin for the weekend.

I hope this meets up to what you wanted!

Title: Justin's New PadPairing: Brian/JustinTimeline: you know, post-513, cuz that was the request. You were paying attention, right?Rating: PGSummary: Brian goes to New York to see what Justin's been up to.Warnings: Ted is in there. And cockroaches.

Disclaimer: I am not Cowlip. I am not Captain Kirk. I am not Spock. Is there anyone else you wish me to tell you I'm not?

"You're taking this starving artist thing a bit too far Justin."

"This is all I could afford Brian," Justin shot back, his face staring onto and into the blank canvas before him. "And why the hell did you bring Ted," he whispered.

"I didn't feel like driving the 'Vette all the way to New York and Ted felt it was his civic duty to leave his carbon footprint behind by driving his new Escalade here."

Justin furrowed his brow. "Since when did you become so environmentally conscience?"

"I haven't. I'm just repeating Ben and it annoys Ted."

Suddenly a crash could be heard coming from the kitchen along with an "Oh my God!" Following that, Ted came rushing out of said kitchen. "Justin," a very flushed Ted began.

"Ted," Justin said back in all seriousness.

"If cockroaches were a country, then your kitchen," Ted breathed out while pointing in the other direction, "is China. And I think I just met its last Emperor. Big nasty one," he said, scrunching his nose in disgust. "I think he was trying to set himself up as the alpha in the group. Guess he didn't know you were a bottom."

Justin gave Ted a long sideways glance. "So you guys came here for the weekend to insult my humble abode..."

"Humble abode?" Brian scoffed. "We passed humble abode a long way back. This is a dump. And what's with all the blank canvases," the man said as he surveyed the loft with his outstretched arms.

"Okay, so you came here to insult my dump and my art," Justin chuckled. "Why did you come here Brian?"

"I'll just be over here," Ted said awkwardly as he moved around the untidy loft.

"I haven't insulted your art Justin because there seems to be nothing to insult. So, what have you accomplished since you've been here?" Brian asked as he looked over the blank canvases.

"I didn't just come to New York to paint. You know that," Justin said hotly as he turned on Brian. "I came here to make contacts. Get myself out there.."

"And have you," Brian started but was then cut off by a very irate Justin.

"Zip. I've got zip," Justin snapped. "Are you happy?"

"No, I'm not. I wanted you to come here to expand your horizons, not close them off behind a concrete wall never to show the light of day," Brian remarked slowly as he held up another canvas that had started off as something and had been abandoned.

"I need to show the people something here. And the mood just hasn't been right for me to create..."

"I like this one over here!" Ted yelled out as he held up something.

Justin looked up. "That's the pizza box from Wednesday's dinner Ted!"

Brian put his hand to his temple and looked down while taking a deep breath in. "I'm just going to come out and say this. I think you need to come home."

"Actually, yes," Brian replied simply. "You should come home. This isn't you." Brian knew he was taking a huge risk here by confronting Justin on this. The look his young lover was giving him - that defiant look that could get him rock hard from fifty feet away - was cast in his direction.

But it was obvious what Justin needed and New York, at this moment in time, wasn't it.

"I just need..."

"What? What do you need," Brian asked as he came up behind Justin and wrapped his arm around him, "inspiration?" Brian placed a soft kiss to the nape of Justin's neck. "A muse?" Another soft kiss was placed there.

Justin leaned back into his older lover's touch while blowing out in exasperation, his hair flying up as he did so. "Yeah."

"This was good. You tried it out. You needed to do that," Brian said as he turned Justin around in his arms and looked directly at him. "But you haven't failed. This...this just isn't working for you...right now. Come home. It's okay. A man knows..."

"When to ask for help," Justin finished with a smile.

"Yeah, but you don't need help. Just a push. Come home. You can paint there to your heart's content. New York's not far. We can come here after you have something to show people and make your connections."

Besides, I miss you.

That part didn't come out but it wasn't because he was still the old Kinney.

It was just that it didn't need to be said. Justin just knew.

And he knew Justin knew when with a mischivous smile, Justin leaned over Brian while grabbing the hem of the older man's shirt. "Okay Mr. Kinney. But since you drove all this way..."

"With Ted," Brian added.

"With Ted," Justin teased, "do you want to take my mattress for one last spin?"

"No!" Ted shouted as he charged out of the kitchen. "No, no, no, no, no. Absolutely not! I have a brand new Escalade with soft leather seats. You can fuck his brains out in the back seat all the way home. I won't make any lame jokes or say anything. Just...let's go. The angry mob in the kitchen is starting to get ugly. I had to throw Justin's pizza box-slash-art work at them to distract them."

And with that Ted was out the door.

"Well, he is my ride," Brian winced. "Of course, I could fire his ass for leaving us here."

"Let me get my bag," Justin nodded as he retrieved the same backpack he arrived with when he first left for New York.

On the long way back home to the Pitts, Ted was true to his word while his two passengers became reacquainted in the back seat.

Cranking up the defrost, Ted spared a glance in his rear view mirror once and once only. He would not bring up the very satisfied smile he had witnessed on Brian's face to the man later.